


Outside Looking In

by Hoshigatta



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:18:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoshigatta/pseuds/Hoshigatta
Summary: Everyone in the locker room notices Dean's wedding ring before the start of RAW.





	Outside Looking In

“Mox,” Cesaro asks,“What's on your finger?”  
Seth is looking down as he laces up his boots, so his first thought is “finger tape” until he processes the extra layer of warmth in Cesaro’s voice.  
Oh?  
Seth glances up.  
“Nothin’,” Dean says.  
Dean’s got a locker opposite Seth’s, just across the aisle. His mouth is still, but there’s a glimmer in his eyes, like he’s amused. He’s fully dressed for the show, in jeans and a tank, but his hands aren’t taped yet.  
“Don’t look like nothin’,” Sheamus says, from the locker at the end of the row. “Looks like a ring.”  
“I got no idea what you’re talking about,” Dean says, extracting a roll of wrist tape from his gym bag.  
Oh.  
“You and Renee got hitched?” Miz says, and he’s a couple of volume levels too loud for the rest of the room, so everybody stares.  
Dean smiles, deep and wide enough to dimple his cheeks. Roman beams, warm and friendly, clapping Dean on the shoulder.  
“Holy shit!”  
Everyone gathers around, clapping and congratulating.   
Seth sits still on the bench.  
Half his boot is still undone. He has to finish tying it.  
Dean and Renee got married. Dean is married now. He has a ring on his finger.  
“Congratulations, bro! Was it a spontaneous thing?” Miz asks. Miz and Dean did not used to be bros, but apparently things were different when Dean was on Smackdown.  
Seth’s boots are now tied. He stands up.  
Dean shrugs.  
“Sorta. We knew we were doin’ it sometime, she just didn't know I had the ring.”  
“Sly Fox,” Roman says, and then he's pulling Dean in for a hug, compete with familial back patting. “Fox” is one of Roman’s weird nicknames for Dean that Seth doesn't know the backstory for. Apparently it has something to do with the fact that they're good hunters, but will also eat roadkill to survive.  
“Welcome to the club, man,” Miz says, “Being married is awesome.”  
“Thanks,” Dean says, and his face is almost back to its normal guarded stillness, but the smile in his eyes is bright and clear.  
“Lord knows we need more married guys around here,” Roman says, and he actually fist bumps with both Dean and Miz at the same time, which is possibly the weirdest shit that Seth has ever seen.   
The air conditioning in the locker room is really cold, and his mouth feels a little dry.  
Seth clears his throat, and walks across the aisle between the benches. He offers Dean his hand to shake.  
Dean meets his eyes.  
During the Shield, Seth, Roman, and Dean slept in the same hotel rooms every night for over a year, so there’s this weird, very limited way, in which they know each other really well. Seth has borne witness to nearly all of Dean and Renee’s courtship, which had begun as heavy flirting and blossomed into something sacred. Three and a half years later, Dean and Renee have never had a fight so bad that everyone backstage knows about it. They own a house, and a dog. They have separate centers of gravity, but somehow combine into a functional, comfortable whole. They are crazy about each other, and Dean would have had to be literally, actually crazy not to lock that shit down.  
“Congratulations, man,” Seth says, and it comes out lighter than it feels in his throat, “She's a real catch.”  
“Thanks,” Dean says, accepting the handshake. Dean’s palms are warm and a little dry. Seth knows the feeling of those hands really well, except for the little gap where he can feel metal instead of skin. The band is silver; solid and masculine. The ring isn’t cold, like Seth was expecting, because Dean’s been wearing it long enough that it's warmed to the temperature of his body.  
Seth lets go, and nods, genially, to close the moment. Dean doesn’t nod back, but his eyes acknowledge it. He looks proud, and certain. Happy.  
Seth walks back to his locker. He has a text from his girlfriend that weather might strand her in Chicago for an extra day, but he isn’t worried about it. He’ll text her back after his segment, but right now he needs to focus. Seth packs the rest of his civvies into his bag, stuffs his bag into his locker, and plugs his phone into his portable charger. He is a consummate performer, and it’s time to do a show.

 


End file.
